Olympe de Gouges honoured by the National Assembly

A ceremony in honour of Olympe de Gouges, feminist figure of the French Revolution and the struggle for the abolition of slavery, will take place on Thursday at the National Assembly. A highlight will be the presentation of a recently acquired signed letter.

The National Assembly will pay homage to Olympe de Gouges on Thursday, at the behest of the president of the Assembly, Claude Bartolone (PS) and Sandrine Mazetier (PS), vice-president of the Assembly and president of the delegation of the Office for Artistic and Cultural Heritage. The honoured lady of letters and politician worked for the recognition of women’s civil and political rights and also for the abolition of slavery.

On the occasion, a highlight will be the presentation of a letter signed by Olympe de Gouges, recently acquired by the National Assembly and of other documents concerning her, conserved at the Palais-Bourbon library. Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) is the author of “The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen” (1792), containing the famous line: “Woman has the right to mount the scaffold; she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum.”

Arrested in July 1793 for her stance, she was guillotined the following November 3, crying out: “Children of the Fatherland, you will avenge my death.” The feminist figure will again be honoured by the assembly in October, during celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the first women deputies. The National Assembly has called for proposals for the creation of a bust of Olympe de Gouges, which will be sited near to the Salle des Quatre Colonnes.